So that’s it folks, the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has officially come to a close. What an incredible 11 days it has been! While I’ve been a regular attendee of the festival for the past several years, this certainly was the first time I attempted to really experience the festival and all it had to offer. As a result I managed to catch 24 films across all 5 festival venues, including 8 gala presentations, and 16 Q&As. I attended for the first time the TIFF Film Circuit Summit and met amazing individuals from across Canada all eager and passionate about bringing prestige film to their local communities. And, spending every day of the week on festival street, I can definitely say this was the first year I really felt the energy of the city come alive. Overall the experience was both incredible and surreal. 

This year was indeed a different kind of festival, particularly in the midst of the ongoing writers and actors strike in the US. But while the lack of Hollywood actors was certainly felt, resulting in probably a lot less celebrity sightings both scheduled and impromptu, instead we got a festival that felt truly international. In particular, Asian cinema was in full force, and it was amazing seeing the premieres and red carpets filled with eager and excited audiences from across the world, and excited to actually hear people ask Q&A questions in their native languages. 

Now, across the 24 films I managed to catch at this years’ festival, I figured I would give you a bit of my personal highlights. In the future I may consider doing mini reviews for many of the films, but in the interim I wanted to focus on some of the best moments as we continue to ride that festival high. So here goes! 

Favourite Movie: The Breaking Ice | Anthony Chen | China

The easiest decision as I have been lauding this film since I was able to catch the North American premiere. This movie is so special in so many ways. It’s a coming of age story told from the perspective of three young people in their 20s living in Northern China as they struggle with layer upon layer of hardship, including but not limited to their individual mental health challenges, the reverberations from tumultuous upbringings, the aftermath of the pandemic, and most importantly their search for direction and purpose. These moments of tension are intercut with moments of genuine human connection, friendship, love, and warmth, and it’s these moments that Director Chen allows us to indulge in, aided by incredible music and cinematography, that make the movie come alive.

Director Chen mentioned he wanted to take a more free and less meticulous approach to his filmmaking process, and I think it shows, allowing room for these incredible actors to breathe life and joy into the magical sequences they share on screen. All of this takes place in a remote city in Northern China bordering the Korean Peninsula, which also gives us an icy look into a pocket of the world that is often not spotlighted. What results is an incredibly fresh and authentic take on the coming of age tale that has left me personally captivated. 

North American Distribution: TBD

Biggest Surprise Film:  Woman of the Hour | Anna Kendrick | Canada, US 

The biggest surprise for me goes to Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour. And what a surprise it was! Her ability to weave together the main story of her character Cheryl Bradshaw, intercutting flashbacks and flashforwards at the perfect moments, all while building this mounting tension that never lets up, demonstrates a serious intelligence and a real intentionality as a director. And the tension that is built up in this film is truly incredible, reaching its emotional climax in the final confrontation where the music disappears and you’re left to just watch things unfold while chills run down your spine. While the movie does follow the story of a real life serial killer, there are some moments of obligatory violence depicted on screen that luckily never feel gratuitous or heavy handed. This is truly a real gem.

I’m on the fence about this being picked up by Netflix. It’s great that it will be distributed widely but I wouldn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle of streamable real crime content. In any case go watch if you get a chance! 

North American Distribution: Netflix 

Best Q&A: Dream Scenario | Director Kristoffer Borgli | USA

Nicolas Cage remains in my mind the most passionate and most gracious actor, and his Q&A for the Dream Scenario premiere, which also featured Director Kristoffer Borgli and Actress Dylan Gelula, was a perfect showcase of these qualities. What else can you expect from an actor that had enough grace and humbleness to create a movie like The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? Cage offered up some incredible insights into how he chooses roles, and how he deals with being constantly memeified online. Combine this with Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky truly unmatched skills as a moderator, who managed to deftly dodge at least one long-winded audience question, this made for one of better Q&As at the festival. 

Distribution: TBD

Best Premiere: Thank You For Coming | Director Karan Boolani | India

This is what TIFF should be about. As much as I love it when the big Hollywood movie makes its premiere at TIFF, it is incredible to see TIFF become truly international by giving time and space for equally big and impactful movies like Karan Boolani’s Thank You For Coming. Having attended most of the evening premieres at TIFF in the back half of the festival, I will say that this brought the largest crowd to Roy Thompson Hall, even bigger than the crowd for the festival closer, the Sylvester Stallone documentary Sly. Combined with a full and excited cast in attendance featuring the likes of legend Anil Kapoor, Shehnaaz Gill, and lead Bhumi Pednekar, the electricity in the crowd was palpable. The cast also really seem to set Toronto on fire, taking over even my social media feeds, proudly walking the red carpet, and really taking the time to interact with their adoring fans. The whole premiere felt like the full experience, and it felt truly international, which is what we needed frankly at the festival.

Honourable mention goes to the Chinese crowd at Andy Lau starring The Movie Emperor who came out in droves to celebrate the actors upcoming birthday. And second honourable mention goes to Korean fans coming to see the cast of A Normal Family. Between Anil Kapoor, Andy Lau, and Kim Hee-ae, this really just shows you how much love there is for these veteran actors around the world who are capable of drawing these massive crowds even in little places like Toronto. 

Distribution: Netflix, October 6th, 2023 Release

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Annette Benning, NYAD  

First off, let me just say that this movie was not on my radar until I heard that it was being helmed by documentary Free Solo directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin in their first narrative film. And let me just say these filmmakers really succeeded in capturing that same heart-pounding energy that made Free Solo so incredible.

But I have to give it to Annette Benning who is really the key to success in this movie. It’s not just for the portrayal of the character Diana Nyad herself, but Benning also captures the physicality. As per Director Vasarhelyi, Benning spent over 9 months training as a long distance swimmer, and spent months studying Diana Nyad’s mannerisms, down to the minute detail of how she took her final steps on the beach in Florida. The team also mentioned that Benning refused to use a stunt double throughout the entire process! It’s not every day we get to applaud an actress for undertaking such a physical transformation and so Annette Benning deserves all the praise. The energy from the crowd erupting in applause at the end of Nyad’s swim (when the movie hadn’t even finished yet) is enough to tell you what a great performance it was. 

North American Distribution: Netflix, November 3rd, 2023 Release

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Glen Powell, Hit Man 

Another movie that again was not on my radar but that really impressed me both in terms of the movie itself and the performance. Glen Powell not only starred in this larger-than-life retelling of the story of real life “fake contract killer” Gary Johnson, but he also wrote and produced the feature. Powell, while portraying several often comical personas throughout the movie, walks the line between his character and his main hitman alter ego so convincingly and effortlessly. And this culminates in a final climatic scene opposite Adria Arjona that is just lightning in a bottle. In his Q&A director Richard Linklater had nothing but high praise for Powell as his collaborating partner. What an absolutely incredible star making performance. 

I will also just add that Richard Linklater seems like the nicest and most chill director in the world. As someone known for spending literal decades complete his projects (see Boyhood or the Before franchise) I honestly never would have guessed!

North American Distribution: TBD

Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Messi the Border Collie, Anatomy of a Fall

While this category is a bit of a joke, it is still a well deserved award nonetheless. In Justine Triet’s incredible Anatomy of a Fall, Messi plays Snoop, a family pet who accompanies the family’s son Daniel throughout much of the movie. Without going into much detail as this is a movie with a mystery that needs to be experienced and not spoiled, someone needs to explain to me how they were able to film these scenes with Messi. Because I will honestly say that the character Snoop is as much a member of the ensemble cast as any of the other performances in the movie. 

Special mention goes to all the other animals that graced our films as for some reason across East Asian cinema this year animals really played a big role. These performances include the pig in The Movie Emperor, the bear in The Breaking Ice, the shark in Smugglers, the parakeets in The Boy and the Heron, and the deer in Evil Does Not Exist. We thank you for your performances. 

North American Distribution: Neon, October 13th, 2023 (Limited)

Conclusion

So there you have it, my top picks of the festival. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind these past 11 days, and I still feel like I’m processing everything, all while trying to summarize my thoughts and create content that is coherent and at least somewhat entertaining. So do expect more TIFF related content in the near future. But in the meantime while I still stew on that a little bit, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Anything about my festival experience you would like me to write about? If you had a chance to attend the festival I’d love to hear what you thought, and if you have any movies you would recommend that I missed.